Cards

169 Occupation
139 Minor Improvement
10 Major Improvement
14 Round
16 Action
5 Begging
5 Summary
2 Deck Cards
Game Boards
5 Farmyards 3 Action boards and 1 Major Improvement board

Resources
33 Wood 33 Clay 15 Reed 18 Stone 27 Grain 18 Vegetable 21 Sheep 18 Wild Boar 15 Cattle
Farmyard tiles
33 Field / Stone Room
Front/Back

24 Wood Room / Clay Room
Front/Back

Player pieces
white, red, green, blue, and purple
each have:
5 Family disks, 4 stables, 15 fences
Other
1 Starting Player Token 3 Claim Markers
1 Scoring Pad 36 Food Markers
9 Multiplication Markers
Central Europe, around 1670 AD. The Plague which has raged since 1348 has finally been overcome. The civilized world is revitalized. People are
upgrading and renovating the homes. Fields must be plowed, tilled and harvested. The famine of the previous years has encouraged people to eat more
meat (a habit we continue to this day).
COMPONENTS
1-5 12+ 30 Minutes Per Player
Unofficial Agricola Rule v1.1 Book by Benjamin C Meyer (ben@meyerhome.net)







OBJECT OF THE GAME
Players start the game with a farming couple living in a two roomed hut. During the course of the game, the families have many possibilities to improve
their quality of life by growing fields, breeding animals, and expanding and improving their home. The objective of the game is to establish the best
farmyard and get the most victory points. Points are awarded for many things including the number of fields and pastures, as well as for grains and
animals. Additionally, points can be awarded for Occupation and Improvement cards that a player has played. (see scoring overview)
FAMILY GAME
For your first game(s) of Agricola, we recommend that you use the "Family Game" rules which has three changes to the rules to simplify the game:
(Differences to the normal game are also noted in the setup steps next to the family icon. )
1. The Minor Improvement and Occupation cards are not used.
2. The first game board is flipped over to the Family side.
3. The action cards with the family icon in the top right are used.
SETTING UP EACH PLAYER
1. Give each player a farmyard board, two wooden hut rooms, and a reference card. Each player should choose a
color and take the play pieces for that color. Players should place the bag of pieces next to their farmyard.
2. Players should place the two wooden rooms on their farmyard board in the two dedicated spots and then take two family members from their
bag and place one family member in each room.
3. Decide who goes first and give them the yellow starting token and two food. All of the other players get three food.
4. Shuffle the Minor Improvement deck and then deal 7 Minor Improvement cards to each player which they can look through. The remaining
Minor Improvement cards are not used in the game and can be set aside back in the box.
The Minor Improvement cards are not used when playing with the "Family Game" rules.
5. Shuffle the Occupation deck and deal 7 Occupation cards to each player. The colored square ( ) on the left hand side of the card
shows how many players this card is for. If a player receives cards with a number that is larger than the total number of players they should
discard them and draw new cards until they have seven cards. After this is done the remaining Occupation cards are not used in the game and can
be set aside back in the box.
The Occupation cards are not used when playing with the "Family Game" rules.
SETTING UP THE MAIN BOARD
1. Place the three action boards and the Major Improvement board in the center of the table within easy reach of
all the players.
When playing by "Family Rules" turn over the first action board to the side with the FamilyRules image in the
center.
2. Place each of the 10 Major Improvement cards face up on the matching spots on the Major Improvement board.
3. Sort the stage cards into six piles (one for each stage) and shuffle each pile individually. Stack the piles on top of each other numerically so
stage one is on top and stage six is on the bottom. Place the pile of cards on the table next to the game boards.
4. Place the beggar cards on the table next to the game boards.
5. Place all of the resources on the table next to the game
boards.
6. If there are more then two players find the green action cards with the same number (found on the top left: ) as total players in the
game. Place the matching cards on the empty spaces to the left of the first game board. The order in which they are laid out does not matter. A
three player game will have four cards, a five and six player game will have six cards.
When playing with the Family Rules use the sides of the cards with the family rules icon on the top right and the correct number of players on
the left.




A GAME ROUND
The game consists of 14 rounds and six harvests which are after rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14. Each round has 5 phase that occur one after another.
1. Collect Starting in round 2 players that have put resources on the current round now take them and place them in their supplies. There are some
minor improvement cards that when played let players put resources on future rounds.
2. Draw a new round card Turn over the top Round card and place it on the next free round space on the round boards. The first round card goes
above the "3 Wood" action in the spot labeled "Round 1 / Stage 1".
3. Replenish Any spaces on the boards that have arrows on them place the number of new resources show on the
action onto that space. "3 Wood" means that 3 new wood tokens are places on that space. There is no limit to the
number of items that a space can contain. If resources runs low during the game there are multiplication markers
that can be used by placing a resource on top of the marker to represent 3, 4, or 5 of that resource. Some markers
are pre-printed with food and grain.
4. Take Actions In clockwise order, starting with the starting player, players take a single family member from
their farmyard and placing it on an unoccupied action space. Players then take that action. This is continued
until all players family members have taken an action. Each action space can only be used once in every round.
5. Return home. Remove all of the family members from the game boards and return them to their farmyard.
HARVEST
Players feed their family members during the harvest phase. Harvests occur after rounds 4, 7, 9, 11, 13, and 14. As the game progresses the
number of rounds between each harvest decrease. The harvest has three phase that occur in the following order.
1. Field Players remove one grain or vegetable token from each sown field in their farmyard and place them in their personal supply. A
harvested field does not need to be re-plowed.
2. Feeding the family Each player must feed his or her family by paying 2 food per family member. Offspring that were born in the round
directly pre-seeding harvest only require 1 food. If a player can not or does not wish to produce the required food must take a begging card for
each missing food. Some ways to get food include:
Taking a begging card and one food at any time.
Trading one grain or vegetable for one food at any time.
Some Occupations and Improvements cards such as Fireplaces and Cooking Hearths allow players to convert vegetables at two or more food at
any time.
Improvements with the fireplace symbol can be used to convert animals to food at any time.
Improvements with the bread symbol can be used when the player take the Bake Bread action during a round to convert grain to food.
3. Breeding Any player with at least 2 animals of the same type in its farmyard (regardless of location of the parents) receives one new baby
animal of that type. If that animal cannot be housed on the farmyard it runs away and not be turned into food. If you have four animals you do not
receive two babies, but only one.
END OF THE GAME AND SCORING
The game ends after the harvest following the 14th round. Tally each player's victory points on the scoring sheet. There is a
scoring overview on the back of the board for Major Improvements and on the back of the summary card. The player with the
most points is the winner. If there is a tie, the tied players share the victory or can play another game of Agricola to break the
tie.
The number of victory points for each item depends on the total number of that item. For example 0 or 1 plowed fields gives -
1 points for fields to a player. 5 or more plowed fields gives 5 points for fields to a player. See the scoring overview board for
a breakdown of how many points everything is worth. Rules for if how items should be counted:
Fields: Players scores for every field tile regardless of whether it is currently sown or not.
Pastures: A pasture is a fenced in area, not the number of farmyard spaces fenced in.
Grain and Vegetables: They count whether they are in a players supply or field.
Unused farmyard: Only empty farmyard that is not inside a fence is unused.
Stables: Only stables inside a fence are counted.
Rooms: Wood rooms do not give any points. Each clay room is worth 1 point and each stone room is worth 2 points.
Family members: Each family member is worth 3 points for a maximum of 15 points for 5 family members.
Points on cards: Points are shown in yellow circles on the left hand side of improvement cards.
Bonus Points: The text on various Improvement and Occupation cards describes how Bonus points are awarded. Cards which earn bonus points have
bonus point symbols at the bottom.
1. Build Rooms(s) and or Build Stables(s).
Rooms: Players can extend their house by taking this
action. New rooms must be placed orthogonally (i.e.
not diagonally) adjacent to existing rooms. A player
may build as many rooms as they want, but they must
be the same material as the rest of the house. Adding a
wood room costs 5 wood and 2 reed (for the roof). Adding a clay room costs
5 clay and 2 reed and adding a stone room costs 5 stone and 2 reed. A player
may raise one animal in the house (no matter how many rooms). The animal
does not take a room away from a family member. To hold more animals
players must fence pastures (See #16) or have stables.
Stables: A player who takes this action can instead or also build up to 4
stables for 2 wood each. A stable can be placed on any farmyard that does
not already contain a room, field, or stable. Once a stable is placed it cannot
be moved. A stable in a pasture doubles the capacity of the entire pasture. An
unfenced stable can hold one animal. A player cannot have more then 4
stables.
2. Starting Player and or 1 Minor
Improvement
Starting Player: The player who takes
this action gets the starting player token.
Minor Improvement: A player who
takes this action can instead or also play a
Minor Improvement card. When playing a Minor Improvement card the
player must read the card text out loud so all players can hear. The upper-
right corner shows the cost, a player must pay this from their supply in order
to use the card. Some cards have a slash that give the player the option of
paying for the card in two different ways. The upper-left corner shows the
minimum prerequisite (if any) that must be fulfilled before this card can be
played. Many cards are worth victory points at the end of the game and these
are shown by the gold symbol on the left middle of the card. The bonus
points symbol on the bottom center of the card indicate that they also give
variable bonus points as described in the text on the card.
Some minor Improvement cards are "Traveling cards" and are placed not on
the table, but in the hand of the next player to the left after they are played
and acted on. These are indicated by the arrow to either side of the
illustration and in the text on the card.
3. Take 1 Grain and place it in your personal supply
4. Plow 1 Field A player who takes this action takes
one field tile and places it on an empty space in his or
her farmyard. If the player already has fields the new
field must be placed orthogonally (i.e. not diagonally)
adjacent to existing fields. Players may use at most 1
plow improvement every time they take this action. A
field tile may not be moved.
5. 1 Occupation A player's first Occupation is free,
each additional one costs 1 food.
Occupation: A player that plays an occupation card
puts down one occupations card face up on the table.
The text on the card applies to the player as soon as the
card is played. Several cards have a claim symbol, if a
player with one of these occupations meets the stated condition, a claim
token is placed on the appropriate action space with the arrow pointing
towards the player with the claim.
6. Day Laborer Take 2 food and place them in your
personal supply.
7. 3 Wood Take all of the wood from the action and
put them in your personal supply.
8. 1 Clay Take all of the clay from the action and put
them in your personal supply.
9. 1 Reed Take all of the reed from the action and
put them in your personal supply.
10. 1 Food Take all of the food from the action and
put them in your personal supply.
11. 1 Sheep Take all of the sheep from the action and put
them in your personal supply.
12. Sow and or Bake Bread The sow action allows a player
to plant 1 or more empty fields.
Grain: The player takes 1 grain from his or her personal
supply and places it on an empty (fallow) field, then add 2
grain from the general supply to the field.
Vegetables The player takes 1 vegetable from his or her
personal supply and places it on an empty (fallow) field, then
add 1 vegetable from the general supply to the field.
Bake Bread: If the player has an improvement card with a Bake Bread
symbol they can take that action now and convert grain from their
supply into food.
13. Major or Minor Improvement
Major Improvement: There are 10 Major Improvement cards
that have costs that must be paid before they can be taken and
played. Once there is only 1 Major Improvement card the
Major Improvement board should be flipped over and the last
card put in the Last Major Improvement spot.
Minor Improvement See #2
14. Fences 1 Wood per fence. The fences action allow a
player to immediately create pastures at a cost of 1 wood per
fence. Fences are to be laid between farmyard spaces. One
fence may border more than one pasture. Like rooms and
fields, all pastures must be orthogonally adjacent. Fences may
only be placed if they create a fully enclosed pasture. The
edge of the farmyard, stables, fields, and rooms do not count
as fences. Fields may not be surrounded by fences. Fences
may not be demolished or moved once they have been built. A player can
devide a pasture by adding a fence or fences. A player can have at most 15
fences on their farmyard.
Pastures: A pasture is a fenced in area. Each pasture may hold up to two
animals per farmyard square. All of the animals in a pasture must be the
same type. During the game players can re-arrange the animals at any time.
See #1 for information about stables.
15. Renovation A wooden hut can be renovated into a clay
hut and later into a stone house. Players can only renovate an
entire hut, never individual rooms. The renovation action only
allows for a single renovation, a player cannot renovate from
a wooden hut to a stone house in one action.
To renovate a wooden hut to a clay hut requires 1 clay token
for each room and 1 reed (total) for the roof. Turn the wooden
hut tiles over to show the clay hut rooms. To renovate a clay
hut to a stone house requires 1 stone token for each room and 1 reed (total)
for the roof. Replace the clay tiles with stone room tiles.
Major Improvement Only after playing Renovation, See #13
Minor Improvement Only after playing Renovation, See #2
ACTIONS
16. 1 Stone Take all of the stone from the action
and put them in your personal supply.
17. Family Growth also Minor Improvement
Players must have more rooms in their house
then they have family members before they can
use this action. A player who chooses this
action adds their newborn offspring to the action
space and in the return home phase the new
family member is taken home and placed in its
room. A player who takes the family growth
action will therefore have one additional family member to
use on the following rounds. Families are limited to 5
members.
Minor Improvement See #2
18. 1 Wild Boar Take all of the wild boar from
the action and put them in your personal supply.
19. Take 1 Vegetable from the general supply
and put it in your personal supply.
20. 1 Cattle Take all of the cattle from the
action and put them in your personal supply.
21. Plow 1 Field and or Sow With this action a
player can plow a field if they want to. They can
also sow as many fields as he or she wants.
Plow: See #4
Sow: See #12
22. Family Growth even without space in your
home. With this action a player can grow his or
her family regardless of the number of rooms in
their home. In the return home phase if the new
family member doesn't have its own room it
shares a room with another family member.
Family Growth:See #17
23. Renovation also Fences After playing a
Renovation action a player may also build
fences.
Renovation: See #15
Fences: See #14
2 Wood Take all
of the wood from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
1 Clay Take all
of the clay from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
1 Occupation
(cost 2 food) The
player can play an
occupation after
paying two food.
Take 1 Building
Resource of
your choice and
place it in your
personal supply. You
can choose from
Stone, Clay, Wood or Reed.
1 Wood Take all
of the wood from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
2 Wood Take all
of the wood from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
2 Clay Take all
of the clay from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
1 Occupation A
players first and
second Occupations
cost 1 food each,
each additional
Occupation costs 2
food.
Take 1 Reed, 1
Stone, and 1
Food and place them
in your personal
supply
Traveling
Players Take all
of the food and place
them in your
personal supply
4 Wood Take all
of the wood from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
3 Clay Take all
of the clay from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply.
1 Reed Take all
of the reed from
the action and put
them in your
personal supply. In
addition, take 1 stone
and 1 wood and put them in
your personal supply.
Take or Pay
Either Take 1
Sheep and 1 Food or
1 wild boar or pay 1
food for 1 cattle.
1 Occupation or
Family Growth
Either one
occupation where the
players first two cost
1 food and after that
cost 2 food or starting in round
5 Family Growth.
2 Wood Take
all of the
wood from the action
and put them in your
personal supply.
1 Clay Take
all of the clay
from the action and
put them in your
personal supply.
Take 1
Building
Resource of your
choice and place it in
your personal supply.
You can choose from
Stone, Clay, Wood or Reed.
Take 2
different
Building Resource
of your choice and
place it in your
personal supply. You
can choose from Stone, Clay,
Wood or Reed.
1 Wood Take
all of the
wood from the action
and put them in your
personal supply.
2 Wood Take
all of the
wood from the action
and put them in your
personal supply.
2 Clay Take
all of the clay
from the action and
put them in your
personal supply.
Take 2
different
Building Resources
of your choice and
place it in your
personal supply. You
can choose from Stone, Clay,
Wood or Reed.
Take 1 Reed,
1 Stone, and
1 Food and place
them in your
personal supply
Traveling
Players Take
all of the food and
place them in your
personal supply
4 Wood Take
all of the
wood from the action
and put them in your
personal supply.
3 Clay Take
all of the clay
from the action and
put them in your
personal supply.
1 Reed Take
all of the reed
from the action and
put them in your
personal supply. In
addition, take 1 stone
and 1 wood and put them in
your personal supply.
Take or Pay
Either Take 1
Sheep and 1 Food or
1 wild boar or pay 1
food for 1 cattle.
Build 1
Room or
Traveling Player
Either build one
room or take all of
the food from the
action and put them in your
personal supply.
Take 2
different
Building Resource
of your choice and
place it in your
personal supply. You
can choose from Stone, Clay,
Wood or Reed.
SOLO VERSION
To play the game with only one player modify the rules with the following exceptions:
1. Start with 0 food.
2. A Minor Improvement that should be passed to the next player is removed from the game after it is played.
3. Adult family members must be fed 3 food at harvest.
4. The "3 Wood" action only supplies 2 wood.
SERIES OF SOLO GAMES
In a solo series game at the end of every game choose one Occupation card to leave permanently on the table for the rest of the series. During the next
game any occupation that is not permanently on the table gets shuffled back into the deck before drawing new occupation cards so your total on the table
in your hand is 7. At the start of every game in the series you receive 1 food for every 2 points by which you exceed the goal score for the previous game
(rounded down).
Game: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
Points Goal: 50 55 59 62 64 65 67 67
After the 8th game the solo series is over (You can of course keep playing in which case the goal score increases by 1 point per game.)
VARIATIONS
3:1 Exchange: At any time, a player may discard any 3 cards from his hand and draw the face-down card at the top of either the Minor
Improvement or the Occupations deck. This card is placed in the player's hand.
10-3: Each player draws 10 Occupation and 10 Minor Improvement cards and discards 3 of each.
Mulligan: At the start of the game (and only at the start), a player may discard all 7 Occupations and or Minor Improvements and draw 6 new cards
of that type. If the players is still unhappy, he can keep trying this, always drawing 1 card fewer than he discards.
Draft: Before the game starts, each player receives a hand of 7 Occupation cards a usual, then chooses one and passes the rest to the left hand
neighbor. Each player chooses one of the 6 new cards and passes on the remaining 5. This continues until each player has 7 cards. Repeat this
process with the minor Improvement cards.
CREDITS
Game Design: Uwe Rosenberg
Original instruction credits:
Graphic design and Illustration: Klemens Franz / atelier198
Editing: Hanno Girke and Uwe Rosenberg
Thanks to the 138 Playtesters of the first edition and well as to the gaming public for many comments and compliments after publication, which helped us
to improve the game even further.
Special thanks to the Game Doctor Dale Yu for reviewing the Solo game rules. The English translation was done by Melissa Rogerson, who thanks Hanno
Girke and William Attia for support and many late-night discussions, her family for their patience, and John Kennard, Shawn Low, Dale Yi, Zev
Shlasinger and Agricola translators group for their suggestions and proofing.
Agricola is copyright 2007 Lookout Games (www.lookout-games.de) English language publisher: Z-Man Games, Inc Copyright 2008
(www.zmanggames.com)
Fair Use Notice: This document contains some copyrighted material whose use has not been authorized by the copyright owners. We believe that this not-
for-profit, educational use constitutes a fair use of the copyrighted material (as provided for in section 107 of the US Copyright Law. If you wish to use
this copyrighted material for purposes that go beyond fair use, you must obtain permission from the copyright owner). Fair Use notwithstanding we will
immediately comply with any copyright owner who wants their material removed or modified.
I have attempted to contact the copyright owners of Agricola several different times over the past year (2009-2010) to get an ok from them, but never
received any response. Again if you are a copyright holder and feels that this does not fall under not-for-profit & educational use let me know and I will
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